T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold

Filmmakers: Zackary Canepari, Drea CooperRuntime: 89 min

Synopsis:
17-year old Claressa “T-Rex” Shields from Flint, Michigan has a dream of being the first woman in history to win the Gold medal in Olympic boxing. But in order for her to succeed, she will need to stand her ground both inside and outside of the ring. “T-Rex” is an intimate coming-of-age story about a new kind of American heroine. For the first time ever, women’s boxing is included in the 2012 Olympics. Fighting for gold from the U.S. is Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, just 17 years old, and by far the youngest competitor. From the hard knock streets of Flint, Michigan, Claressa is undefeated and utterly confident. Her fierceness extends beyond the ring. She protects her family at any cost, even when their instability and addictions threaten to derail her dream. Claressa does have one stable force in her life: Coach Jason Crutchfield. Her trainer since she was just a scrawny 11-year-old hanging out at his gym. Jason always wanted a champion; he just never thought it’d be a girl. Her relationships with her coach and her family grow tenser as she gets closer and closer to her dream. But Claressa is fierce and determined. She desperately wants to take her family to a better, safer place and winning a gold medal could be her only chance.

About the Filmmakers

Zackary Canepari & Drea Cooper are filmmakers based in the Bay Area. Their award-winning short film series “California is a place” garnered over 10 million views online and screened at festivals around the world including Sundance and IDFA. Shortly after, the directors landed on Filmmaker Magazine’s “Top 25 New Filmmakers to Watch List.” Their debut feature documentary “T-Rex” about Olympic gold medalist boxer Claressa Shields premiered at SXSW and went on to win audience and jury awards around the country including San Francisco International and Hot Docs. They’re also an accomplished commercial directing team, having directed spots for Apple, Chevy, Intel and others. Currently, they are working on an episodic documentary series about Flint, Michigan.